Former Tory home secretary tells House of Lords he hopes the bill will be struck down as ‘unconstitutional’

By the way I notice in the comments – see I promised that I do read them – some criticism of the reporting of the inflation figures saying that food prices fell when the headline inflation rate is 4%.

While it is true that inflation falling from 11% to 4% doesn’t mean that prices are going down, it means they are going up more slowly, my understanding is that the food price component of the inflation figures did show prices going down, albeit from a high base.

However, food and non-alcoholic drink prices fell at a monthly rate of 0.4% in January, the first monthly decline since May 2021, driven by price cuts in January for bread and cereals, cream crackers, sponge cake and chocolate biscuits.

Against a backdrop of a tough Christmas for UK retailers because of weak consumer spending, furniture prices also fell at the fastest monthly rate in four years amid steep reductions for kitchens, leather settees, dining tables and chairs.

The ONS said that although food inflation fell on the month in January, prices had increased by 25% over the past two years – more than double the rate seen over the entire preceding decade.